Perceptions Shifted
by SilverBirchStudio
Summary: This is my M-rated thank you to everyone who read my story Shifting Perceptions - what happened after Chapter 14 and before the Epilogue. Contains graphic depictions of sex and grown up words for sexual body parts, so read at your own risk!


Perceptions Shifted

I've never read the Elizabeth George books (Tommy as a blond?!) but I am a huge of the BBC series, and I have borrowed the characters to play with just for fun and no profit to myself. I promise to return them unharmed but hopefully very satisfied...I hope you enjoy!

Many thanks to all those who have left reviews and encouraged me when I wrote Shifting Perceptions! This is my M-rated thank you to those who enjoyed my story – this is what happened after Chapter 14 and before the epilogue, you know, the juicy stuff. This sort of works as a stand alone, but will make more sense if you've read Shifting Perceptions. This is my first attempt at writing graphic stuff, by the way, and these 2,500 odd words were way harder than the nearly 37,000 of the original story!

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You'd better come in, don't you think?" Barbara Havers stepped back, giving Tommy Lynley room to unfold his long legs from the car, her arms crossed in front of her, face giving nothing away. She had spotted him sitting in the Bristol across the street from her flat, and now he felt foolish for being caught there, but he couldn't just leave things the way they were between them.

Once inside her flat, she poured them both drinks, wordlessly handing him a glass. A small part of him stayed detached from the situation, analyzing the vanilla notes in the golden liquid as he searched for courage in the tumbler full of whisky. Glenmorangie, he recognized, the 10-year, his usual in a pub that didn't offer a wide selection of single malts.

She must have bought it to have when he came over, as she didn't normally drink whisky herself, he thought, before he realized she could have bought it for anyone. Another friend who liked Scotch, or perhaps she had developed a taste for it herself. You're an arrogant fool, Lynley, he told himself.

He forced himself to look up at her as she sat on the other end of the sofa. Her flat suddenly seemed impossibly small. After working together so closely, for so long, he could see her brain working; observing him, analyzing his expressions, judging him, reading him. He felt very naked and exposed, and suddenly had a small measure of empathy for the suspects she questioned.

The silence was painful, dragging on forever until she finally broke it. "What are you doing here, sir?"

He leaned forward, setting his drink down on the coffee table and dragging his fingers through his hair before looking back at her to answer. "You left, and I couldn't bear it." No change in her expression. Of course not. It wasn't enough, and he knew it. "You left with someone else, and I really couldn't bear it." He drained his glass. "We kissed, and you pulled away, said we had to pretend it never happened, and that was also unbearable."

She looked away, her head down and her body hunched in on itself as she stared into her glass, so he knew he had reached her. He just wasn't sure how, or what it meant. He longed to touch her, ached for it, and knew he shouldn't, which made the longing worse, much worse.

"Do you know when I first fell in love with you?" he asked. Her body retreated even further, but there was no stopping now. "When Garrett was holding you hostage in that damned pub, and I couldn't get to you…Then, when we got inside, and you were there, alive, and I got my arms around you…"

His voice trailed off. He couldn't see her face, for her hair had fallen forward around her, but her whole body was shaking, quivering all over. "Barbara?" It was all there, in the way he said her name, love and hope and anguish and fear.

She raised her head, green eyes spilling over with tears. "Damn you, Lynley! I was doing fine at first, but now – "

His hand went to her face, cupping her cheek, the fingers of his other hand stroking under her jawline. He still wasn't sure if he should have touched her, how it would go, and he realized he was holding his breath, but next her body relaxed and her lips came toward his and he knew it would be all right.

Her mouth was on his, so sweet, softly at first, and then more demanding, her hands in his hair, tilting his head for better access, mouths opening, tongues seeking. She ended up across his lap, straddling him, pressing herself against him as his hands sought out the bare skin of her back underneath her jumper, stroking her.

Their breathing grew ragged and their lips finally separated. Tommy reached out to hold her face and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. He smiled. "You can't expect me to forget that, you know."

She laughed and sighed at the same time. "I should have known it was a lost cause after the first kiss, actually. And then you had to go and tell me when you fell in love with me. And of course it had to be the same moment I fell in love with you. Hopeless."

She leaned forward, pressing her cheek against his, her lips by his ear. "Take me to bed, Tommy," she whispered. "Now."

She stood, then reached for his hands, moving backwards toward the bedroom, her huge green eyes locked onto his warm brown ones. Halfway there, he pulled her against him, not willing to wait any longer for more contact, seeking her mouth with his. She pulled his shirt from his trousers so her hands could touch his skin, and then suddenly they were falling awkwardly onto the bed when the backs of her knees hit the edge of the mattress, causing her to lose her balance.

She heard his low laugh about their fall against the skin of her cheek, and she smiled in response, and then his mouth was moving down, kissing her jawline and then her neck, finding and wreaking havoc on the oh-so-sensitive spot behind her ear. Her fingers fumbled with the buttons of his shirt until she finally had them undone, and he moved away from her just long enough to remove it completely, allowing her free range across his chest, back and arms.

She had a moment's panic when he pulled her jumper up, exposing the skin underneath, recalling every body issue and bad date and lack of self-confidence she'd ever had, but then, somehow, none of that mattered. She could feel his warm breath on her stomach, the kisses he placed on each inch of skin he exposed, and then that glorious mouth of his teasing her nipple through the thin fabric of her bra, turning her insides warm and liquid.

He pulled away from her, his eyes never leaving hers as he removed the rest of his clothing, showing her exactly how aroused he was for her. She sat up, pulling her jumper over her head as she did so, then reached for her bra clasp. She heard his breath catch as her breasts were revealed, and felt a thrill that she could have such an effect on him. She undid the button and zipper of her jeans, lifting her hips so he could help her slide them off, along with her panties.

Once she was nude, he started working his way back up her body, kissing first her feet, then ankles, calves, knees and thighs, moving slowly and intently, taking his time as he explored her. She had never previously thought of her skin as a sexual organ, but his mouth and hands had her moaning and wet with anticipation before he ever reached her genitalia. He paused at the top of her thighs, teasing her with his lips and tongue, circling the area without touching her aching core, then moving instead to her stomach and back up to her breasts.

"Tommy, please…oh, god, you're driving me mad, you know," she told him, her voice low and throaty with desire.

He smiled wickedly at her, massaging her breasts, sucking and nibbling at each of her nipples before he answered. "We'll get there, my love. We've got all night, and then the rest of our lives to get there as frequently as possible."

Before she could respond, he had moved back down her body, trailing kisses all the way. His hands slid under her buttocks, kneading them gently, adjusting her position to allow that clever tongue of his better access. There was still a small part of her brain trying to process rationally what he had just said, what was happening to her body, but then his tongue dipped inside her and all thoughts deserted her.

Tommy slid his mouth up to her aching, swollen clitoris next, and her fingers threaded through his hair, guiding the pressure of his mouth and tongue as he alternated between sucking and licking, teasing every nerve ending into a frenzy. She could feel the climax building and she teetered on the edge for a moment, warmth turning to heat, starting at the core and spreading outward, muscles beginning to tighten in anticipation, and then his fingers were inside her, stroking, first one finger and then two, as his lips and tongue continued their assault on her clitoris. The blissful combination of internal and external stimulation sent her tumbling over the precipice, back arched, the walls of her vagina clenching around his fingers, and she cried out from the sheer pleasure of it.

She fell back on the bed, drained by the explosiveness of the orgasm, and she whimpered softly as the peak of the sensations began to fade. He held her with strong, warm arms, his hands stroking her body with long, gentle motions as her breathing began to slow and she came back down to earth.

Her hands and mouth began to explore him in turn. His skin tasted slightly salty and she inhaled deeply, taking in his scent, an addictive combination of expensive soap and leather, wood smoke, sandalwood and musk, along with an underlying note of sheer maleness. It was a scent she had noted many times before, but always at a distance, across his office or sitting in his car. She had never been able to indulge in it like this, up close and so very, very personal. Her fingers trailed across his chest, her thumbs and then her tongue brushing lightly over his nipples before moving down his body.

He was still fully erect, impressively so, and she marveled that he could be so incredibly hard beneath the velvety soft surface skin. He sighed deeply when she first touched him, then groaned as she caressed him slowly a few times. One hand moved to his balls, massaging gently, as the other stroked his cock, moving back and forth, learning the rhythm and pressure he liked. She lowered her lips to him, kissing the head of his penis, but as she went to take him into her mouth he stopped her.

"If you do that, my love, I won't last long, and I very much want to come inside you," he told her. He reached for his trousers on the floor next to the bed, fumbling for his wallet and the condom tucked inside. "Now, come here."

She smiled at him, and began to kiss and lick her way back up his body. She straddled him, rubbing herself against him for a moment, craving the friction against her still swollen clit as he ripped open the package. She moved away just enough for him to get the condom in place and then put her hands over his and helped him roll it down his length. Her eyes never left his as she positioned him at her entrance and began to slowly slide him into her.

"I've wanted this for such a long time," she whispered. "I can't believe it's really happening."

Even with the condom in place and just the tip of his cock inside her, Tommy could feel how very slick and willing she was, so it was torture how slowly she lowered herself onto him, then raised herself up again before he was halfway seated inside her. His hands began to massage her thighs, encouraging her to move again, and his breathing became more and more labored. Each time she moved, she went a little further, but not quite all the way, her eyes watching him intently, studying his reactions.

"Now _you're_ driving _me_ mad," he said. "So tight, so warm, so wet…it feels so good to be inside you."

As he finished speaking, she finally took all of his length inside her, and he moaned at the feeling of completion and connection it gave him. She paused for a moment, enjoying the feel of him so deep inside her, finally. She began to move, slowly at first, and then faster and harder, finding her rhythm. He put his hands on her hips and thrust upward to meet her each time, savoring the sounds she made, the feel of her, the look on her face, as she made love to him.

He moved his hand to her clitoris, rubbing across it with his thumb, then circling it, and back again as she rode him, her thighs pressing against his side. He saw the change in her face first, telling him she was close, and then he felt the walls of her vagina tighten around his cock, the muscles clenching and contracting around him as her orgasm began. She arched backward as it hit her full force, her whole body shuddering in reaction, and she cried out his name. At the sound of his name, Tommy could hold on no longer, giving himself up to the sensation just as she collapsed against his chest.

"I love you so much," he said moments later, smoothing her hair back from her face as they laid beside each other, recovering from the intensity of their lovemaking.

"You're not…disappointed at all?" she asked, her face and body visibly tense, the twin demons of doubt and fear making her voice falter over the question.

"God, no! How could you think such a thing?" He leaned in and kissed her. "I knew making love to you would be amazing, but this went beyond anything I could have imagined."

He pulled her even closer to him, and his hands stroked her back, offering reassurance. "I intend to prove to you over and over again how much I love you, how much I want you. Starting tomorrow, after we've both had some sleep."

She laughed ruefully. "I'll hold you to that, you know," she warned.

His arms tightened around her. "You had better! Now sleep, my love. It has been a long day for both of us."

Barbara laid her head on his chest, snuggled into his body, and slowly drifted off to sleep to the sound of his heartbeat.


End file.
